details the writing of Cowboy Mouth near the conclusion of her relationship with Shepard. At Shepard's urging, the two retired to his room to write the play over the course of a night. Smith was reluctant to begin writing and write in conflict, but Shepard encouraged her to "Say anything. You can't make a mistake when you improvise." Smith wrote:"Sam was right. It wasn't hard at all to write the play. We just told each other stories. The characters were ourselves, and we encoded our love, imagination, and indiscretions in Cowboy Mouth. Perhaps it wasn't so much a play as a ritual. We ritualized the end of our adventure and created a portal of escape for Sam."Slim was the name Shepard used to introduced himself to Smith when the two of them met. Like Slim, Shepard was married and had an infant at the time he and Smith were in a relationship and wrote the play. Like Slim, Shepard returned to his family, though he did so on the third night of Cowboy Mouth. Cavale's name comes from the book La Cavale, Smith's favorite book of the French-Algerian writer Albertine Sarrazin. "Cavale" means "escape" in French. References External links Cowboy Mouth Quote from the play Review at After Dark magazine 1971 plays Plays by Sam Shepard Plays by Patti Smith Autobiographical plays Plays set in the United States